Page 31 of Every Broken Promise
I didn’t bother with a reply. Of course they knew about all the times Ty and I tried to sneak in, and here we thought we were pulling a fast one.
Once outside, I went next door and knocked on Rachel’s door. Like me, she didn’t venture much into town.
When I saw her, I told her, “I seriously hate you.”
I told her to dress casually.
She looked down at her wide-leg, bell-bottom jeans. They were formfitting and cut just right to her heel height. Her burgundy top was tucked into the jeans while a Valentino belt was wrapped around her waist. Even with her arm in a sling, she looked put together.
“This is casual,” she deadpanned.
Now I felt like the loser little sister to the successful corporate big sister.
“Isowant to be you when I grow up,” I repeated what I had been telling her. Although it was far too late for me to take her path.
“Are we going straight to Zeke’s?” she asked as she walked to her car. She had gotten in a bit of an accident a few days ago, and now that she got her car back and my car was no longer needed, it was the obvious choice. And it gave me the chance to keep driving her totally cool car. A win-win for everyone.
“It’s still kind of early. I figured we could go for a walk around the town square. I haven’t had a chance to browse other than go to the bakery.”
“Oh, I like their gingerbread pig cookies,” she added.
See,pan dulcewas the best.
When we got there, the sun was starting to set. It wasn’t dark enough for them to turn on the twinkling lights they had all around the shops and water fountain, but I couldn’t wait.
“Oh look, they have a hot dog stand.” She pointed to the other side by the willow tree.
“Look’s good, but I really want some of the wings they have at Zeke’s.”
They had some good, seasoned wings and a special hot sauce that was made with blue cheese. It was the main reason why it was a popular bar. You could order them out Monday throughThursday. Too bad for underage me, I always craved them on the weekends.
It was akin to craving Chick-fil-A on Sundays. Now it didn’t even matter that there wasn’t one near me.
I couldn’t help the nostalgic feeling that came over me as we walked around. I could feel a few people stare at us, and I could imagine why. If Rachel was like me, that meant she didn’t go out much, so that meant she had not given the people a chance to really know her. And as for me, I had just been avoiding everyone.
The older adults had no beef with me. People my age and a year or two younger were another story. I would have thought four years would have been enough to get over petty high school shit, but judging by the emails I’ve gotten, that didn’t happen.
“Can we go to the tarot shop? I’ve always wanted to go there?” Rachel’s question surprised me.
We walked over to the crystal shop, and I couldn’t help but look at the display window. This time, there was no ominous card on display. We walked in, and I had to admit the place looked awesome.
I wasn’t much of a spiritual person, and my parents were religious in name only, so I couldn’t even say I was a devoted worshipper.
The inside was very green, covered in all kinds of plants. I was sure some of them had to be fake since they looked exotic.
The walls were lined with shelves, and there were so many crystals in all different shapes and sizes. There were also booklets on spirituality and shadow work.
“Hello,” a chipper voice greeted us. “May I help you with anything?”
Rachel and I turned to see a pretty and small woman approaching us. She was dressed in all black, with her black hair in a messy bun. Her arms were covered in tatts. Her nose waspierced on both sides, and a chain went through. Her lips were a very dark red, and she had either pale blue or gray eyes. She was gorgeous, and she exuded coolness.
Rachel and I spoke at the same time.
“No, thank you. We are just looking around,” I said.
“I was looking for some rose quartz.”
She motioned us over to where the crystals were.
